Read More...

Summary only...

#NotTonightBoss- @MetsWFAN (Chris Madjkowski)

Those words were tweeted out by the Mets radio producer for the past 3 1/2 seasons. But tonight, June 1st, 2012, that all came to an end. For the first 8,019 games in the history of the New York Mets, the team had never thrown a no hitter. On 8,020 the streak finally came to end with Johan Santana throwing the first no-hitter in team history.

This is especially meaningful considering the man who threw it. Coming off major shoulder surgery, who would have even imagined Johan throwing another pitch in the major leagues, let alone a no-hitter. The torn labrum has ruined the careers of many once great pitchers so him reaching this point only icing on the cake. Before the game manager Terry Collins told the media that Johan would be on a 115 pitch count. At 95 pitches at the end of 6 with his pitch count only rising, there was a lot of doubt among the announcers and fans and players alike wondering if Terry would allow Johan to finish this game. With 107 pitches heading into the 8th inning there was a serious debate raging among fans about whether or not to take him out. Under any normal circumstance there wouldn't be any question but due to the shoulder surgery it would have been understandable. With a walk in the 8th inning, Terry did come out with many fans thinking that this would be the end. But in the end history was made.

This game wasn't without it's controversy. In the 6th inning, Carlos Beltran in his return to Flushing since being traded, hit a ball that was called foul but upon further review appeared to hit the chalk (and thus a fair ball). The call was argued but (obviously) to no avail.

Also continuing the tradition in no-hitters, Mike Baxter made a spectacular running catch in the 7th inning, ramming into the wall (and subsequently leaving the game) to preserve the historic occassion

So enjoy it Met fans. The curse is over. We have a no-hitter. Hopefully it won't take 50 more years for the next one to come.

With that there is only one thing to say. TONIGHT BOSS! LGM



Read More...

Summary only...

On a cold damp Tuesday night, the Miami Marlins made their debut at Citi Field with former Met Benedict Arnold Jose Reyes in tow. But what was supposed to be a homecoming was largely overshadowed by what quickly turned into a pitchers duel between two aces.

After the shortest outing of his career last Tuesday against Atlanta, Johan looked to return to signature form against the Marlins, and return to form he did. After a nice play by Kirk Nieuwenhuis to rob Reyes of an extra-base hit, Santana settled down. But Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson seemed equal to the task. Both pitchers went 6 2/3 innings, Johan throwing 105 pitches (67 for strikes). But runs were scarce to come by. It wasn't until the 7th inning that either team scored a run.

In the top of the 7th after not allowing a hit since Omar Infante's single as the second batter of the game, Mike Giancarlo Stanton singled with 2 outs. That was then followed by a double by noted Met killer Gabby Sanchez and a bad relay throw which allowed Stanton to score, putting the Mets in a 1-0 hole and knocking Santana out of the game. The bottom of the inning was better for the Mets, walking the bases loaded for Josh Thole who also drew a bases loaded walk, tying the game.

After a Nieuwenhuis single, Ruben Tejada failed to lay down a bunt (leaving him hitless on the night). Daniel Murphy followed with a single that advanced Kirk to 3rd with only one out. David Wright proceeded to strikeout looking on three pitches, when Lucas Duda, who has been in a slump to start off the season, hit an infield single off the pitcher which allowed Nieuwenhuis to score what proved to be the game winning run.

Notes:
Jose Reyes went 0-4 in his return to New York. His first AB was greeted with a mixed reaction of cheers and boos as with his video tribute.

Jason Bay was placed on the 15-Day disabled list with a fractured rib, which is not thought to be serious (we'll see how that plays out).

Mike Pelfrey was also put on the 15-Day DL. Unlike Bay, it appears that Pelfrey's injury is very serious. The early diagnosis is a partial tear of his ulner collateral ligament in his elbow, which if true, will require Tommy John surgery, thus ending his season and possibly even his Mets career. Read More...

Summary only...

According to Mike Francessa's "major news", pending a physical Jason Bay has agreed to a 4 year deal worth 66 million with the Mets.

Jon Heyman has also confirmed that a deal has been reached.

Joel Sherman is reporting the deal has a 5th year vesting option.

I've said since day 1 that Holliday is the better player, but Bay is the better deal. Holliday will likely sign a much longer contract for more money per season (probably more than 5 years at more than 100 million). Considering out commitments to Santana (who is still owed 98.5 million over 4 years or 118 million over 5 years if we pick up the 2014 option), plus Wright and Reyes have more money coming their way. Its hard to believe the Mets could really afford to give Holliday such a high cost/long term contract. Plus I think Jason Bay is a guy who can be a leader for this team, which is obviously something that has been missing the last few years. Read More...

Summary only...

A lot of people in the Global Facebook Group (including myself) have been clammering for the Wilpons to sell the team for years. And those people may soon get their wish. According to a person who works for Fox Business (not the most reliable source), the Wilpons may be forced to sell the team as early as next year due to the money lost in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.

Read More...

Summary only...

Jerry Manuel announced today that Johan Santana will start Thursday's spring training game against the Marlins. The game will be broadcast live on SNY.

Barring any setbacks, it seems like Johan is back on track to pitch on opening day.

The Mets buzz on WFAN and SNY the last day or so has been whether or not Johan is rushing back, or if they were babying him too much. I say let the guy pitch. Babying pitchers is one thing when your dealing with a young prospect, but Johan is an all star and a veteran. He knows when he's ok to pitch, if he says he's fine, then give him the ball, and let him pitch.

Take that Dan Warthen... Read More...

Summary only...

For all of you that know me out there, you know there are two things that I just fully cannot stand. The first being Radiohead, and the second being the New York Rangers. Well you can now add the handling of pitching staffs by all Major League teams (especially our beloved New York Mets) to that list.

Now I know that the bullpen is an integral part of the Major League game nowadays, and that in the minors pitchers are groomed to only go seven innings. I also know that in this age of the high priced bullpen and the evil pitch count complete games are a pretty much a rarity. But let's be realistic, there is no excuse for the Mets to not have one complete game this season. None. There have been times this year where I have been watching games and Willie or Jerry (pending on time of season) would come to take out a pitcher and I would just ask myself...why? I'll tell you right now, you would have never seen that with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, or my boy Ron Darling (keep in mind one of my ultimate goals in life is to be "boys" with Ron Darling...he just seems like such a cool dude). Seaver probably would have actually flipped off whoever it is that was trying to take him out of the game. It would have been a slap in the face of a pitcher to take him out of the game as he was pitching a shut out back in the 70's, 80's, or even the early 90's. But recently it has become an all too common trend.

There have been two games this season that I can think off of the top of my head, where both Willie and Jerry have removed Johan Santana too soon. Now I know Santana has a history of never throwing complete games, and taking himself out of games, but this is where Jerry needs to now step up. We are going to pay this man $150 million and he can't throw us a complete game shut out every now and again. I was down in Philly for the 4th of July game where Duaner Sanchez decided that you only need two outs to complete an inning. Santana had under 100 pitches going into the ninth, and was still mowing down batters. But at the end of the eighth the doors to the pen opened, and out trotted Mr. Sanchez. JD=stunned. Of course that is the only game we lost in the series (thanks guys), and in the long run its not too much of a big deal anymore, but it really makes you wonder where this non complete game mentality that the New York Mets have came from. I would also like to think that Jerry would want to use this as an opportunity to show the players that this is HIS show. Putting his foot down on his ace (who coincidentally is the best pitcher in baseball) would show me a lot, and make the Willie firing more justified.

Before I get back into this art of pitching discussion, I must make a quick comment about our new manager. Now, I had problems with the ways Willie ran things at times, but I wasn't calling for his head. But I read Jayson Stark's Rumblings column today over at ESPN, and Billy Wagner basically set me straight about Willie. In short he basically said, it is nice having a more "Met-like" clubhouse under Jerry. Wagner also said that it was a nice change from the "Yankee-like" clubhouse that Willie ran. Wags also went on to say that the players have been more relaxed, and the clubhouse has been a better place in general. Now he never trashed Willie, as he likes Willie as a person (and how could you not). But if the Mets continue these winning ways under Jerry and make a run in the playoffs, I Jersey Dan, will feel like a huge fool for supporting Willie for as long as I did. I'm already starting to feel like a huge fool with the way our bats are starting to wake up. Though I can't stand the way Jerry handles his pitching staff at times.

Back to that pitching thing. Oliver Perez on Sunday. Even before the rain delay he was going to take Perez out. Why? He's young, he was actually pitching well, let the man throw until he can't throw no more. Perez needs as much time on that mound as possible. If he is to ever get consistent on the hill, that is the way he is going to do it. Same with Pelfrey on Tuesday. People will say his pitch count is high and what not. Who cares, pitch counts are the dumbest, most useless, overrated stat in baseball. The problem is pitchers need to learn how to pitch better again. Pitchers just aren't as good nowadays. They don't have as many good pitches in their arsenal, and as the great Ralph Kiner said a few weeks back during a game "they don't pace themselves." The reason all the great pitchers could go nine innings was because they paced themselves and they only threw hard when they needed to. Let's face it, Santana is great, but he can't stand up to Seaver, Doc, Ron, Jerry, or El Sid. Those guys were workhorses. I'm sure there are times when Ron is up in the booth just laughing at the fact that Mets starters are being taken out of games that they are throwing shut outs in. I think Ron understands this new age of pitching, but at the same time I'm sure Ron thinks its weak (that's just me assuming though).

What can be done? Well it starts in the minors. Pitchers should be groomed to go nine innings. Not six, not seven, not 100 pitches, but nine innings. Nine innings should be the goal. Now obviously on some days pitchers won't have their best stuff and they will be taken out, and that is fine by me. But if a pitcher is on, he should be staying in the game and giving his bullpen a rest. And let's face it, the New York Mets bullpen could use a rest every now and again. I mean it's nice to see Jerry bring stability to the pen by giving guys certain roles, but that doesn't mean you have use those guys every night. The only guy I have seen Manuel use less is Wags, who doesn't come in nearly for as many non-save situations as he used to.

You can call me old fashioned, but I just wish we could bring back some semblance of old time baseball from the 1970's and 1980's. I mean from what I've been told by the old timers, the quality of play in todays game is nowhere near the quality of play of yesterday's game. The Mets need to start pushing their starters more, start getting them ready for the post season where they might need to throw 125 pitches in a game. If the starting pitching doesn't toughen up and start pitching more innings, this team will not go far in the post season. Not with the way the bullpen has been overworked. You could see the bullpen tiring out in May, so can you imagine what it would be like in October? Read More...

Summary only...

Although hardly mentioned by the incompetent Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on ESPN, Mets ace Johan Santana won his 100th career game on Sunday night against the Dodgers. His career record is now 100-47. According to the Elias Sports Bureau...

Only four other active (or disabled) pitchers had fewer than 50 losses at the time of their 100th career win: Mike Mussina (100-43), Tim Hudson (100-45), Roy Oswalt (100-47) and Pedro Martinez (100-49).

Congrats Johan! Read More...

Summary only...

I could go into specifics but I really don't see much a point. Even with Santana on the hill today the Mets couldn't get the job done. On May 22, 2008, the Mets are a sub .500 team and not just in record. Thinking any differently is purely a sign that you're in denial.

We're all feeling the same way right now.

Lets go Mets. Read More...

Summary only...

This weekend the Mets took both games from our crosstown rivals the New York Yankees, during a rain shortened series in what may be the most important series of the year thus far. I refuse to call a two game series win a sweep, so we'll just say the Mets won this weekend's series, reclaiming bragging rights for the time being.

Of course to the Mets this weekend's series was bigger than the rival Yankees and the subway series, it was a make or break series to see how the team would react to the Billy Wagner Saga. See my thoughts on that here.

Saturday the Yankees jumped on Johan Santana early with a two run homer from Derek Jeter in the first inning. The Mets struggled early against Andy Pettite before finally breaking through in the 4th inning, batting around and scoring 3 runs to take the lead. From that point, Santana was brilliant retiring 10 straight batters at one point. The score stayed 3-2 until the 7th inning when Kyle Farnsworth came in for the Yanks, and gave up home runs to Jose Reyes and David Wright, giving the Mets 3 more insurance runs making it 6-2. Santana gave up solo home runs to Giambi and Abreu, before Willie turned the ball over to Wagner in the 8th inning for a 4 out save. The Mets would tag on one more run in the top of the ninth to make it 7-4, and Wagner once again stepped up, and shut the door on the Yanks in the 9th for the 7-4 victory.

Sunday the Mets went for the Series win, and they didn't disappoint. The Mets manufactured 4 runs off of Yanks ace Chien-Ming Wang in the top of the 4th around a controversial home run hit by Carlos Delgado which was over ruled by the umps (more on that in the next post). Then Oliver Perez gave up a single to Derek Jeter and a 2-run homer to Hideki Matsui, putting the Yanks right back in the game. But Perez settled down after that, allowing just 1 more hit to Jose Molina in the 5th. Perez was dominant, going 7.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on only 3 hits and striking out 4. The Mets went to town on Wang after that, Ryan church hit a monster home run in the 6th inning, and the Mets would bat around again in the 8th inning, off of Wang and Ross Olendorf, putting together a 6 run inning capped off by a 3 run homer by Jose Reyes. Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis sealed the deal, Mets win 11-2.

These were two big wins by the Mets in this series, they definitely showed up and did what they needed to do. The Mets came out and reclaimed some bragging rights for Mets fans, now they just have to go out and continue this good play in Atlanta and Colorado to try and turn this season around.
Read More...

Summary only...

Don't be fooled. I didn't see tonight's game either. It's Mets vs. Nats anyway. On paper, there shouldn't be much to see honestly.  For those of you in your alternate universe who believe that Johan Santana should go 20-0 this season, you should be content with his outing tonight.  I know I am.

Read More...

Summary only...

So when we last spoke, I called out not only the Mets line up, but the Mets bullpen to step it up in this week of games against the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies. A week later, it seems that my challenge was answered by David Wright and company, as the Mets just completed an impressive week of baseball that included a sweep of Washington and a series victory against Philadelphia.

On Tuesday night Mike Pelfrey took the mound on yet another Jackie Robinson Night at Shea (and yes that was said in a negative way). I'm just going to make a quick public service announcement about Jackie Robinson, that I know some of my fellow bloggers share with me. Jackie Robinson was a great player, he was a great American for his contributions to not only baseball and society, and he was a great BROOKLYN DODGER. Listen I am a fan of history, and the Brooklyn Dodgers for that matter, but it seems with the pending opening of Citi Field, Mr. Wilpon is kind of forgetting that we are the NEW YORK METS. My point being, it would be nice to see some more Mets history invovled with not only this ballpark, but the organization in general. Instead of celebrating the last season at Shea with another Robinson Night, let's have a Seaver Night, or a 1969 Night, or something Mets related. I mean, we are the Mets for God's sake, not the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Now back to Tuesday's game. Ladies and gentlemen can we have a standing ovation for Mike Pelfrey please? Where has this Pelfrey been all of the past two seasons. I mean seven shut out innings from him was just what the doctor ordered on Tuesday night. That was the type of start the Mets needed, and the 6-0 victory was the game the Mets needed to kick off the new week. Pelfrey is starting to earn the respect that I so have wanted to give him for the longest time. Even though he didn't pitch as well on Sunday night against the Phillies, he still got himself out of some tough jams. Can you really fault the man for getting burned by the best second baseman in the league. I'm critical, but not that critical.

After a come-from-behind win on Saturday, the Mets and Nationals played themselves a half marathon of a baseball game on Thursday night. Just to put things in perspective, I was already at my third bar of the night once the Mets finally "pushed" across the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning at Shea. Trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, Carlos Delgado did something correct for the first time all season by pushing across Ryan Church to tie the game. In the 14 inning it wasn't even a heroic RBI base hit, but a wild pitch by Washington's Joel Hanrahan that ended the game. The Washington reliever, already in the midst of a sloppy inning let one get away allowing Damion Easley to score the winning run.

Sloppy was the only way to describe the game, but if there is one positive we can draw from it, that would be the bullpen. Six Mets relievers threw seven scoreless innings to keep the Mets in the game. The bullpen in general looked pretty damn solid this week. Billy Wagner looks dominant as usual (along with his awesome wad of dip), we welcomed back Duaner Sanchez, and Aaron Heilman has seemed to settle down. Once again Joe Smith is having another solid start to the season, we can only hope he keeps it up for the whole entire season this year.

So after making waste of Washington it was off to Philadelphia for another round with the Phillies. Johan Santana made yet another important start in this young season as him and Phillies ace Cole Hamels met up for a highly anticipated Friday night showdown. Seven innings later Santana had struck out 10 Phillies and only gave up 3 runs as he led the Mets to a critical 6-4 victory, extending their winning streak to four games. Oliver Perez had himself another great start on Saturday, but in typical Mets fashion the bullpen went and made things interesting. After Scott Schoeneweis and Smith each gave up a run, Billy Wagner put the meat of the Phillies line up in their place and the Mets walked out with a 4-2 victory. Sunday night as I stated ealier Chase Utley made Mike Pelfrey look normal for the first time this season. Utley drove all of the Phillies first four runs. A solo home run in the first and a three run job in the fifth. The Mets made it interesting by tieing it up in the sixth, but the long ball was our downfall all night as Pedro Feliz hit the go ahead home run to give the Phillies a 5-4 win and end our hopes of a sweep in Philly.

This week was exactly what the Mets needed. Jose Reyes has returned to classic Jose form, Wags looks good, Wright is awesome, and even Beltran is starting to come alive. With road games against the Cubs and Nationals, and a three games series back at Shea against the Braves, it has been the perfect time for the Mets to wake up. If the Mets can win two at Wrigley, it would be a huge momentum push coming into the huge Atlanta series this upcoming weekend. Once again I would like to think that we will steamroll the Nats. All-in-all the Mets get a solid A for their efforts this week, and hopefully the effort they have put forth will continue this week.

P.S. As much as I hate to say it, well done to the New York Rangers. I still hate you though.
Read More...

Summary only...

I know it’s hard to root for this team being how they are not even a .500 team so far and we are all still wondering if the effects of the 2007 collapse are with the team. However, there is something that’s been alarming. And no it’s not the Marlins and Royals in first place (yeah I know, wow). It’s the fact that some of you Mets fans decided to actually boo none other than Johan Santana at his last start on Saturday, who is widely considered the best pitcher in the game of baseball today.
Why did Mets fans do this? Well, there could be a few reasons for this.

1) Paranoia Paranoia Paranoia. What do I mean by this? Well let’s go through the high priced free agents or players required via trade who were supposed to save the Mets one way or another. I’ll just name a few because I know you are cringing reading this. Names such as Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar, Jeremy Burnitz (the 2nd time around), Bobby Bonilla. Ok I’ll stop. Names like this remind us of how a high priced free agent or traded pickup was supposed to save us, but ended up being a total joke. Granted, none of these guys were pitchers, but several of them were All-Stars at some point and were expected to be the same for the New York Metropolitans.

2) High entitled expectations. Since 1997 when the franchise “turned” the corner so to speak, we have expected the World Series crown. While the 99 teams and 2000 teams made runs, they fell short in the end leaving us for hope in the new century. However, since 2000 we have only made the playoffs once and we all know how that ended. Thus, when a favorite of ours fails, we get hard on them because we expect nothing but the best. Its almost the Yankee fan mentality which is a shame.

3) Perfection. While this leads off from my second point, we expect the big free agent names that are not going to be busts for us (Mike Piazza, Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez etc) to be perfect in every way. I am sure there are some people out there who booed Mike Piazza if he didn’t get the game winning hit every time out. Unfortunately, Johan is still human and we need to realize that even he (“our savior”) will have a few bad games.

So there you have it Mets fans. While some may want to sit there and boo when Johan doesn’t pitch 7 innings give up 2 runs on 5 hits. By no means am I condoning this behavior and in fact I am totally 100% against any type of booing for Johan. Johan shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as some of our free agent busts, but it was a straight up analogy. Hat tip to Global NYM member Mike Rossi for the writing ideas.

Oh and if some of you were wondering, Brian Bannister is 3-0 for the Kansas City Royals with an ERA under 2. Argh.

Read More...

Summary only...

Another week, another wrap up, and another round of question marks regarding the 2008 New York Mets. After getting our hopes up with an impressive series against the Phillies, the Mets took another giant step backwards with a horrendous series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Mets opened up the last season at Shea Stadium in true New York Mets fashion on Tuesday, as the bullpen blew a great game for Oliver Perez. Perez threw another 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the home team, but in the end it was the classic Mets bullpen giving us another classic result. Scott Schoeneweis was the main culprit along with support from his always reliable cast of Jorge Sosa (who I guess doesn't need days off anymore), and Aaron Heilman. The Mets bounced back nicely on Wednesday though, as Mike Pelfrey helped stop a three game skid in pitching five strong innings. Pelfrey and stopper...hmmmmm. Just when things were looking good Heilman (who not surprisingly is my Dave Mlicki Award Winner of the week), nearly blows a great outing by John Maine. Well he blew Maine's chances at a win, but at the same time he was bailed out by this weeks Ed Kranepool Award winner, Angel Pagan. I love this kid. He is starting to reach levels that only the Teenage Hitting Machine has seen when it comes to young New York Mets outfielders. In case any of you Mets fans have been living under a rock this past week, Pagan is now batting .385 with 10 RBI for the season. Moises who???? Mr. Pagan delivered a game winning RBI on Thursday giving us the first series of the year against the hated Phillies. Things were just starting to look somewhat good...

And then Milwaukee rolled into town on Friday night. At first this series was shaping up to look great. The Mets as team, for the first time since the Marlins series looked great collectively. Heilman was awesome out of the pen, as were his teammates Joe Smith and Billy Wagner (and his awesome wad of dip). Nelson Figueroa gave us a ton of hope in his assignment to replace Pedro Martinez. Figueroa gave up a mere two hits and struck out six, while giving up two earned in six innings of work as the Mets looked pretty impressive at Shea on a rainy Friday night. Then Saturday hit and the wheels started to fall off. Someone needs to take David Wright onto the field before games and just have him work on throwing the ball to first. I applaud Carlos Delgado for mastering the sweep tag manauever that has become all too common in Mets games this season. The good news about Wright is that he is hitting the ball well. The bad news is, no one seems to be able to hit the ball well in clutch situations; including D-Dubs. For instance, Sunday's game. The Mets tallied 14 hits and seven runs in this game...and lost. They also grounded into five consecutive inning ending double plays. The bullpen also had a rough go at it, capping off a shaky two days of pitching that included Johan Santana giving up three home runs in his losing effort on Saturday.

Speaking of Santana. Get off his back. Does anyone really think he is going to go 65-0. Let him get his bad starts out of the way now, because they are going to happen every now and again. Point is the man gives us a chance to win day in and day out. End of story.

So my weekly progress report on the Metropolitans is an overall C+. The only reason we get the plus is because of the fact that we beat the Phillies in a series and ended that horrific losing streak against them. The bullpen was horrible this week minus Friday nights game. The starting pitching was awesome against Philadelphia, and then not so good against Milwaukee. The good thing about that is the guys who pitched poorly (Santana and Perez's Sunday start) are the guys who we most expect to bounce back in a big way in their next starts. Pelfrey and Figueroa having great outings was an awesome sign this week. The line up is still hit or miss. There are days when all hits seems to go our way, and then there are days when I feel we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a beach ball. I don't know if it's the HGH wearing off, but Delgado needs to wake up. Wright and Carlos Beltran are putting up soid numbers, but they need to hit more in the clutch; especially with Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo both nursing injuries. I don't know what Ryan Church and Pagan have been eating, but they both need to keep at it. They are both picking up a lot of slack that is being missed by Reyes and Delgado right now.

Looking ahead to this week, the Mets have what should be a gimme series against the Washington Nationals to close out their homestand. The Nationals win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday marked their first win in nine games. This is the type of series where the Mets need to work out any last kinks, because a series with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park awaits this weekend (which I look forward to seeing a lot Mets fans there, I will be looking to go to the game on Saturday if I don't acquire tickets to Game Five of the Devils/Rangers series).

All games of the Washington series will be broadcast on SNY and start at 7:10 PM. For the Phillies series, Friday's game will be on CW11 and will start at 7:05 PM. Saturday's game will air on FOX and start at 3:55 PM. Sunday's game is the ESPN Game of the Week, and will start 8:05 PM. For those of you in the Washington area you can catch the games on MASN, and for those of you in the Philly market (this guy) Friday's game can be viewed on CSN.

Looking forward to another week of Mets baseball...and playoff hockey LET'S GO DEVILS!!!!!
Read More...

Summary only...

As pessimistic as I can be at times, I like a good heart-warming story any day of the week. It's difficult having two teams to follow each night now, The Real Mets & The Baby Mets, but I still managed to focus on most of the game last night.  XOXOs are easy tonight...especially when you cause premature thoughts of no-hitters.

Read More...

Summary only...

After making waste of the Florida Marlins in the first series of the season last week, the Mets were quickly brought back down to reality by an Atlanta Braves team that looks like it is going to be right in the mix of things during this 2008 season. It wouldn't be fair to blame one sole person for the debacle that we saw at Turner Field this weekend, as there were many contributing factors to the lack of production we saw.

In a friendly debate with some of my fellow bloggers during Spring Training, I argued that the Mets have more pressing issues in their line up then they do in their starting rotation. Well after the first week of the season I feel both parties can claim victory in that battle. Pitching wise we lost Pedro Martinez for God knows how long. It looks like it will be up to Nelson Figueroa to help us forget about Pedro. But seriously, there can't be many of us over the age of 16 that remember Pedro in a Mets uniform. I mean I can recall seeing him in a Mets uniform about six or seven times in the past year and a half. My message to Mr. Figueroa is simple...make Pedro expendable. Besides that and a shaky first start from John Maine, the rest of the Mets staff looks great so far. Wait a second, that's less then 50% of the staff...oh man. I want to think Maine's poor performance was a fluke after that awesome spring he had. I also want to think that the Mets will throw a no hitter someday. Yeah well, I'm just going to keep hoping and praying.

Now the lineup is a whole 'nother monster. The Mets offense did not produce in big situations this weekend. We must have had six million chances to drive in runs on Saturday, and yet all we got were five small ball runs. All off season I complained that we don't have much in the ways of hitting after Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran. Well you can scratch Reyes from that trio. That .238 batting average looks great at the top of the order. Wright and Beltran have looked great, and Ryan Church along with Angel Pagan are pleasant surprises. But at the same time the Mets have a mere two home runs this season. Carlos Delgado has only two RBI and that is unacceptable for him. We hired him to bat .275 and drive in 115 runs. I don't care if he's batting over .300, because in the long run that means nothing if he isn't driving in any runs. The Mets followed up their "stellar" Saturday performance with a five hit encore on Sunday. Way to go boys. This lineup needs to wake up if it plans on hanging with the Phillies lineup this week. Then again the Phillies haven't looked to hot to start the season either.

The bullpen has been overworked, overused, and at times some questionable calls have been made by Willie Randolph and his staff. Should Jorge Sosa have been relieved by Pedro Feliciano with the bases loaded on Saturday. Maybe. Is it Randolph's fault that Sosa gave up a grand slam to a guy with a girl's name. Not at all. Stop blaming Willie for trusting his pitchers. Trusting your pitchers will get you much further in the long run, and that is what the Mets need to be looking at. Plus has it crossed anyone's mind that Willie might have liked to save his bullpen for the next inning (or possibly two) of work. Keep in mind that he most likely would have seen the heart of the Atlanta lineup in those innings. Sosa didn't do his job, end of story. Not too mention John Maine recorded a mere 12 outs (for those of us that have a hard time dividing, that comes to four innings of work). On a more positive note, Joe Smith looked great in his one inning of work.

With all this being said, it is time for these bums to shake of the cobwebs of last season, and start playing like the team they should be. Santana looks great, Perez looks great, Christ almighty even Brian Schneider hasn't looked half bad. This is a huge tone setting series coming up this week against Philadelphia. The Mets we see in this series might be the Mets we see all season long. Now I ask myself, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Read More...

Summary only...

The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. It was the second straight defeat at the hands of their division foes as the Mets fell below .500 for the first time this season.

It was over when: Mark Teixeria killed the Mets twice, first with this homer in the bottom of the eighth and then with his glove in the top of the ninth. I have a feeling that I'm gonna start to hate this guy very quickly.

Good: This Johan Santana kid is pretty good. Santana gave up one run over seven strong innings but was the hard-luck loser as the offense and Aaron Heilman gave him absolutely zero support. For the second consecutive game, though, the Mets refused to go down without a fight. They brought home a run (finally) in the top of the ninth and had the tying run on first when Brian Schneider hit a bullet down the first base side. Unfortunately, Mark Teixeira made a fantastic play, stopping the ball and making the flip to Soriano to end the game.

Bad: I already mentioned them both. The offense was dead for eight innings and by the time they showed up, Heilman had already given a two-run homer to Teixeira the inning before. You have your ace on the hill and you don't manage to give him a single freakin' run? Maybe the Mets wanted to give Santana a reminder of his days in Minnesota. Right now, Santana is the best 1-1 pitcher in baseball.

Ugly: Reyes: 0-4. Castillo: 0-4. Wright: 0-2, 2 SO, 2 BB at least. Beltran: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 SO including a pathetic at-bat in the top of the ninth in which he didn't take the bat off his shoulder once. Hey Carlos; I'll stop riding you when you start to earn your ridiculous paycheck. Oh yeah, Delgado went 2-4 today but he also left three men on base. I'll just sum all of this up. The Mets sucked at the plate for 8+ innings today. Yeah, they were facing John Smoltz today but Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman and Peter Moylan all held the Mets scoreless today. Are you kidding me?

Overall: Thankfully, I missed over half of this game. Once again, the Braves were the better team and they deserved to win. The bats better show up against the Phils this week. Performances like this at Shea will not sit well with the home fans, boys. Then again, playing like this in Atlanta angers me just as much. If we're going to be excited when the Mets beat up on the AAA-quality Florida Marlins, we have to be annoyed when they play like a Little League team against the Braves.

Grade: D. Which is sad because Johan Santana deserved better.
Read More...

Summary only...

In their second series of this young season, the Mets (2-1) will travel to Turner Field in Atlanta to take on that Damn Team From the South aka the Atlanta Braves (1-3).

The Mets come into the series with a 2-1 record after a solid season opening series down in South Florida. Ace Johan Santana looked great in the season opener, while Oliver Perez and the Mets line up were clicking on all cylinders during Wednesday nights 13-0 drubbing of the Florida Marlins.

The Braves enter this series with a 1-3 record after dropping the season opener in Washington to the Nationals, and two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates back at Turner Field. Larry Jones and young shortstop Yunel Escobar have gotten off to hot starts for Atlanta as they have six RBI each in Atlanta's first four games.

The Mets and Braves split the season series last season, with each team winning nine games. The Mets were 5-4 at Turner Field last season, including a late August/early September sweep in a ballpark that used to be a house of horrors for the boys from Queens.

The series will only be a two game series, as Friday's game was rained out.

Saturday's game will start at 3:55 PM. Tim Hudson (0-0) got a no decision in what was a solid first start of the season against Washington last Sunday. Hudson was 16-10 with a 3.33 ERA last season. The Mets send John Maine out for his first start of the season. Maine was 15-10 with a 3.91 last season, and is looking to improve on that record in 2008. This game will be broadcast on Fox.

On Sunday the Braves will send out Tom Glavine (0-0). Most of us remember Tom Glavine for not showing up in his last start as a New York Met last season, thus putting the icing on the cake of the worst collapse in team history. In his first start back in Atlanta Glavine gave up an earned run in five innings of work against Pittsburgh on Monday. He will get the unenviable task of matching up against Santana (1-0), who looked dominant in his first start of the season against Florida last week. Atlanta will no doubt be Santana's first real test of the season. Sunday's game will start at 1:30 PM, and can be seen on SNY.

Out of market fans, please take note that Braves games are no longer broadcast on TBS, thus you cannot watch Braves vs. Mets game on that channel anymore. For Mets fans in the Atlanta market, the game can be seen on SPSO.

With that said Let's Go Mets & PLAY BALL!!!!!
Read More...

Summary only...

The New York Mets won yet another Opening Day contest, defeating the Florida Marlins 7-2.

Good: Where to start? Johan Santana pitched like an ace, giving up two runs and striking out eight in seven strong innings. David Wright began his 2008 MVP campaign by going 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBI. All of Wright's RBI came on a two-out base hit int he fourth. Jose Reyes also came through with a clutch two-out base hit that brought home a run. You have to like how Aaron Heilman looked in the ninth, as well. Heilman sat the Marlins down in order, striking out two in the process.

Bad: Not much. Santana gave up a two-run home run, something that Mets fans may just have to get used to. Face it. Johan gives up the long ball. The bullpen created a Maalox moment in the eighth but didn't give up a run thanks to Jorge Sosa.

Ugly: Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider. Neither had a hit on Opening Day but it really didn't matter. It's always nice when you have to be picky in this portion of the post.

Overall: This is what you like to see. Strong starting pitching, two-out base hits that drive runs home and a bullpen that doesn't give anything up. Every Mets fan is happy with this contest and it's especially nice to beat the Marlins after the final series of the '07 season.

Grade: A
Read More...

Summary only...

The Game:

The Mets will travel to Miami Florida to take on the Florida Marlins at 4:10 PM today

The Mets will try to put 2007's collapse behind them by starting off 2008 against the team that finished them off last year

The Lineup:

SS Jose Reyes will bat leadoff, followed by 2B Luis Castillo, 3B David Wright, CF Carlos Beltran, 1B Carlos Delgado, LF Angel Pagan, RF Ryan Church, C Brian Schneider and LHP Johan Santana.

The Pitchers:

Johan Santana will be making his National League and Mets debut

Mark Hendrickson will get the start for the Marlins

The Notes:

2008 will mark the Mets 47th season of existence, and will commemorate the last season at Shea Stadium, where the Mets have played since 1964.

The Mets are 29-17 all time on opening day

This is the second time the Mets will open the season vs. the Florida Marlins (1999, the mets lost 6-2 to the marlins on opening day)

The Mets went 20-11 during Grapefruit league play this spring, giving them the most wins in all of baseball during spring training.

Be sure to head over to the Facebook Group for our In Game Discussion, which will be taking place during every game this year.
Read More...

Summary only...